Abimelech’s Conspiracy (Part 2 of 2)

><> ><> Judges 9:7-21 <>< <><

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸ The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father’s house this day and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

><> ><> Context <>< <><

Part 2 of today’s lesson is about two brothers, Jotham and Abimelech. After the death of Gideon, Abimelech, the illegitimate son of Gideon and a woman in Shechem, persuades the city officials in Shemech and Beth-millow to crown him king of Israel. The first act of this corrupt and vile, self-proclaimed king was to kill all of the seventy sons of Gideon. Only Jotham escaped. As we will see, Jotham never attacks his brother, Abimelech, face-to-face. However, he does address the city officials and condemns them. Jotham climbs to the top of Mount Gerizim which lies to the south of Shechem. Many call this the ‘Mountain of Blessing’ as seen in Deuteronomy 11:29, which says, “When your God יהוה brings you into the land that you are about to enter and possess, you shall pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.” This was Moses’ instruction to Joshua when they come into the land. Joshua, in obedience, fulfilled Moses’ request in Joshua 8:30-35. which says,

“³⁰ At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. ³² And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. ³³ And all Israel, sojourner as well as native-born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing, and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.”

It is interesting that Shechem has a long history of God’s people making historical and important announcements in this city. As we saw, Joshua fulfilled Moses’ instructions and proclaimed the blessing and curses as well as the complete reading of the law that Moses wrote. This was also the city where Joshua gave his farewell speech to the Israelites before his death in Judges 24. Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim. It would only be right for Joshua to give his farewell to the Israelites from Shechem, a city in the hill country of Ephriam, with all of its history and significance. And now, on Mt. Gerizim before Shechem, Jotham speaks and condemns the leaders of Shechem. No doubt Shechem had great significance, not only to Israel but also to the people in the East. According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, Shechem was on a major trade route connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the nations east of the Jordan River. Additionally, it is sad that the Israelites were not able to drive out the Canaanites from the lowlands of Israel. Like the tribe of Judah in Judges 1:19, they were able to drive out the inhabitants in the hill country, but not in the lowlands because they had chariots of iron. Therefore, the Israelites were content to live with the Canaanites. But, as God said, they became a snare to the Israelites. Additionally, as we know, the Israelites eventually rejected God and turned to worship the false gods and idols of the people who lived in the land and in the surrounding nations. So it was no surprise that Jotham spoke to the people from Mt. Gerizim and addressed only the city leaders. More than likely, the leaders were a mixture of both Israelites and Canaanites. Beth-millo, according to commentary and resources, was a fortress near Shechem that was used for defense. And finally, Beer in our passage that Jotham ran to in his escape from Abimelech, may be the same remote city as Beersheba in the Negev, in the southern desert of Israel, in the tribe of Simeon. In Genesis 21:33, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called on the name of the Lord, “Our Everlasting God.”

><> ><> COMMENTARY <>< <><

In verses 9:7-15, Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, climbs to the top of Mount Gerizim and addresses the leaders of Shechem by first telling them a parable. Jotham was not trying to challenge and compete with Abimelech. In obedience to his father, Gideon, he did not want to be king. By addressing the leaders only and not Abimelech, his message is more powerful and condemning. Jotham begins to tell the leaders a parable. It is interesting to note that this is the first recorded parable in the Bible. Jotham says to them that the trees went out to anoint a king over them. First, the trees went to the olive tree and asked the olive tree to be king over them. The olive tree responded in verse 9:9, saying, “Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?” Then the trees went and asked the fig tree to rule over them. But the fig tree said in verse 9:11, “Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?” And also to the grapevine, who replied in verse 9:13. “Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?” But to the bramble, or rather, the thorn bush, they replied to the trees in verse 9:15 and said, “If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.”

Matthew Henry comments and says in regard to the bramble, “The bramble is a worthless plant, not to be numbered among the trees, useless and fruitless, nay, hurtful and vexatious, scratching and tearing, and doing mischief; it began with the curse, and its end is to be burned.” The fruit-bearing olive tree, fig tree, and grapevine, on the other hand, are all productive and useful for the kingdom of God. Jotham could not state his position any clearer. He was not attacking Abimelech face-to-face to gain an advantage so he may be king. Jotham did not have a call from God and he obeyed his father’s desire that God is the king of Israel. Additionally, at that time and immediately after Gideon’s death, Israel was not fighting against any common enemy. The land has rest all the days that Gideon lived. Abimelech, on the other hand, wanted to become king because of his greed and selfish ambitions. But Jotham tells the leaders of Shechem that Abimelech is useless and unproductive like a thorn bush. And since Jotham is speaking to the leaders of the city and not to Abimelech, he places them alongside Abimelech and pronounces them equally guilty for the murder of all of Gideon’s sons. Jotham says if the leaders have acted in good faith on behalf of all the good deeds that Gideon did for them, then that is well. But if not, then may they devour Abimelech and Abimelech devour them. Such a worthless scheme that Abimelech devised to deceive others. One would wonder what would cause the city officials to make such a foolish choice. Without waiting for a response from the city officials, Jotham ran away to Beer, which is a remote place. He went to Beer because of Abimelech. Since Abimelech tried to kill him once, will he not try to do it again? And this time, maybe with success?

This is definitely a very sad but brave story. On the one hand, this is a brave story of a young man, who escaped death while still mourning the loss of his father and his other 68 brothers. Yet, God was his only hope. This young man was fit to call out the misdeeds of the leaders in Shechem. And on the other hand, it is sad that one man, an illegitimate man, could exalt himself as king. But even more so, it is despicable that the leaders of the idolatrous city of Shechem would agree to make this man, Abimelech, who had not done anything worthy to merit any prospects of royalty, to become their king. They had no ability to reason and discern. After all, they took seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal, their god, to pay and reward Abimelech. Abimelech was a liar, deceptive, manipulative, a money-grabbing swindler, and a murderer. Sir Walter Scott said in 1806, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” And this is true. Thankfully, God chose and used a man of worth who spoke the truth to disentangle the wicked web of lies that Abimelech used to deceive. In conclusion, we cannot help but compare the character of Jotham and the character of Abimelech. One was righteous and spoke the truth. The other was vile and spat lies.

><> ><> DOCTRINE <>< <><

As we read and study this passage of Scripture, we cannot but help to see the difference between a righteous man and one who is worldly with selfish ambitions. The Bible speaks on these differences using different motifs. For example, John the Beloved wrote his Gospel and Epistles to compare light and darkness; and love versus hate. The Apostle Paul taught the churches about the works of the flesh and the works of the Spirit. Jesus Christ compared those who had faith and believed with those of little faith and unbelief. The Old Testament Scriptures compare those who are obedient and faithful to those who are wicked. The Psalms have often compared the righteous man as a well-water plant that flourishes against the backdrop of the wicked that lives in a dry, parched, and barren land. Therefore, this doctrine that distinguishes the difference between the righteous and the wicked is the truth that the Church holds dear. In regards to this teaching, our Confession of Faith says:

“We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in his esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in his sight wicked, and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death.”

><> ><> APPLICATION <>< <><

We need to develop within us a love of goodness and truth. We do this by abiding in goodness and truth, the sufficiency of God’s Word for our lives. Society tells us that truth is relevant and each of us has truth within us that is good for us only. Such a typical answer! Scripture says there is nothing new under the sun. This is exactly what the writer of the Book of Judges says, “everyone did as they pleased and did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Instead, we need to take off everything that so easily binds and hinders us, so we can keep our eyes fixed on Christ. He is the author and perfector of our faith. We need to take the Word of blessings and curses to the world so all nations may know the glory of the Lord. We need to choose leaders who are not filled with selfish ambitions but have a love and desire to glorify God. We also, in everything we do and say, must glorify our Lord Jesus Christ.

><> ><> PRAYER <>< <><

Father God, I worship and praise You. I thank you with gratitude for loving me, saving me, and revealing Your truth to my heart and life. Lord God, I need Your Spirit to teach me Your ways. Forgive me of my sins and lead me by Your righteousness. Give me discernment to know the truth and to turn from the wicked ways of the world. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen

><> ><> HYMN <>< <><

And Can It Be? by Charles Wesley in 1738: